What's new
  • As of today ICMag has his own Discord server. In this Discord server you can chat, talk with eachother, listen to music, share stories and pictures...and much more. Join now and let's grow together! Join ICMag Discord here! More details in this thread here: here.

Coco chips

Gato420

Active member
I want to add some coco chips to my coco media. I don't see any specifically stating they are prebuffered. Does pH balanced mean the same thing? If not, would hydrating the chips with calmag be sufficient for prebuffering?

Thanks
 

StickyBandit

Well-known member
Sounds like a good idea (y)

I use this although it's quite expensive and I also condition my rain water with their Calmag Agent to EC 0.4-0.8 (depending on the strain) prior to adding the bottled salts


Or the compressed bricks

Edit: sorry, you're asking about the chips themselves right? I would only be guessing but minimal conditioning probably won't hurt as they won't have as much effect as the finer coco
Somebody with more knowledge will be along shortly :p
 

Orange's Greenhouse

Active member
It's best to use your normal fertilizer at normal or elevated concentration for buffering. While it is true that coco hoovers up calcium it also binds and releases micronutrients.

Where did you get chips? I only know the expensive kind for orchids.
 

Tomatoesonly

Active member
I just started using some chips I picked up in a brick... mainly used for mulch. Stuff needs to be washed ALOT!!!! Has tons of color and salts.
I also noticed it changes the feel of a pot vs 100% coco. Feels much lighter. Roots seemed to be alright with it. They will grow right through the larger chunks.
Currently mixing at MAX 50%.
 

Gato420

Active member
I just started using some chips I picked up in a brick... mainly used for mulch. Stuff needs to be washed ALOT!!!! Has tons of color and salts.
I also noticed it changes the feel of a pot vs 100% coco. Feels much lighter. Roots seemed to be alright with it. They will grow right through the larger chunks.
Currently mixing at MAX 50%.
Hmmm, not looking at that brand but was hoping pH balanced meant some sort of cleaning had been done. Chips should be easier to wash than the fiber though.
 

Tomatoesonly

Active member
Hmmm, not looking at that brand but was hoping pH balanced meant some sort of cleaning had been done. Chips should be easier to wash than the fiber though.
Looking at Amazon, I see what you're talking about now. They are pretty vague with their "low EC and pH balanced". You can make some assumptions, or just test it and see what you get. Soak some in R/O water and test it afterwards to see what the EC and pH are.
Maybe buy a couple brands to begin with.
 

CocoNut 420

Well-known member
Pre buffering means it's been treated to remove sodium from the coco, from memory calcium and/or magnesium displace sodium ions (bad stuff)
 

Latest posts

Latest posts

Top